Tim Khachetoorian stands Tuesday in his backyard where White Plains plans to put a Greenway trail very close to his property line. / Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News

Written by

Dan Rutberg stands on his porch Tuesday talking about where White Plains is considering putting a Greenway trail extremely close to his property line. / Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News

More

ADVERTISEMENT

WHITE PLAINS — Residents along an unused stretch of the city-owned Greenway are seeing red over plans to extend a walking trail through what they consider their backyards.

“Our backyards will become a public right of way where people will not only walk on the trail, they will bring with them all of the problems associated with public property,” Gedney Park Association Co-president Esther Steinhauer wrote in a letter to the city expressing residents’ concerns over privacy and safety issues, adding that a “dark, public trail” next to homes “is just inviting crime.”

In a packet sent to City Hall that includes three Freedom of Information requests regarding the Greenway, Steinhauer notes that residents think the walking trail will lower property values and disturb wildlife and the natural habitat. She said the city has yet to respond.

The city says the trail has been part of the Greenway plan since 1996, when the former New York, Westchester & Boston Railway right of way between Bryant Avenue and the Scarsdale border was dedicated as parkland at the urging of open-space advocates, including some who live along the property.

“This plan has been known for decades,” Mayor Thomas Roach said. “The Greenway is an asset of the city, and we have an obligation to maintain it and use it for the benefit of all of the residents of the city.”

The right of way, officially called the Jack Harrington Greenway City of White Plains Walking Trail, was acquired by the city in 1943 after the railroad’s bankruptcy in 1939. After it was dedicated as parkland, a walking trail was built on a mostly flat, 150-foot-wide, 1.7-mile section from Gedney Way to the Scarsdale border. The city wants to extend the walking trail another half-mile, along a 250-foot-wide marshy portion that is bisected by steep slopes descending to a small stream.

Neighbors along that section say they were unaware plans were moving forward until they received a letter in March informing them that the city was going to survey the property. They say the area is too narrow for a trail, and that if one is put in, they’ll lose their privacy and worry about prowlers and burglars. They say the city should spend money fixing their pothole-dotted streets and addressing an ongoing flooding problem rather than on a trailway.

(Page 2 of 3)

“We know it’s parkland. We know it’s city property. But the city will be putting a trailway 20 feet from our bedroom windows,” said Tim Khachetoorian, who has lived on Bolton Avenue for 11 years. “We have kids playing here, and the backyard is the only safe place for them to play. Meanwhile, nothing is done about the flooding and the potholes. Where are the priorities?”

Khachetoorian is one of more than 30 neighbors who are encroaching on the parkland, according to the $20,000 survey completed by the city last month.

Officials say many who live along the Greenway have illegally cut down trees, put up sheds, fences and playground equipment, installed patios, planted lawns, shrubs and gardens or are otherwise using city-owned land. They say the homeowners do not pay taxes on the property and the city could be liable for any accidents or injuries that occur.

When similar encroachment was found on the Greenway between Gedney Way and Scarsdale in 2010, the residents were required to take down illegal structures and let the city-owned property return to its natural state.

“It appears that a number of people are using the (city) land beyond their property lines,” Roach said. “We’re not going to crack down and seek fines, but we will require them to stop the encroachment.”

Neighbors describe the issue as a red herring. They acknowledge there is encroachment, and say they will remove illegal structures and stay within their property lines.

“They are two completely different issues,” said Linda Moggio, a Pleasant Avenue resident. “The mayor is hoping to fool the public into thinking there is a connection, but one has nothing to do with the other. Encroachment has nothing to do with our safety.”

Jere’ Pessin, a 25-year resident of Gedney Terrace, agrees with her neighbors that the new walking trail will attract criminals and destroy privacy.

She said allowing natural growth up to their property lines will bring insects and animals right up to their back doors. Noting that Sam’s of Gedney Way, a nearby restaurant, leases part of the Greenway for a parking lot, Pessin said residents should be given the same opportunity.

(Page 3 of 3)

White Plains Public Works Commissioner Joseph “Bud” Nicoletti said the city’s $11,000-per-year lease with Sam’s was made in the 1980s, before the Greenway was dedicated as parkland.

Roach said the neighbors’ concerns are similar to those made by residents along the original section of the trail, south of Gedney Way, and that the city has not finalized any plans for the new stretch.

“All we’ve done is conduct a land survey,” he said. “We’re just identifying the property line so that we know exactly what exists. Then we’ll start looking at plans and how to mitigate issues with the neighbors. At this point, they’re jumping the gun.”

He said studies have shown that “the objections they’ve raised just don’t bear out,” adding that “rails to trails” projects have been shown to benefit neighborhoods and increase property values.

Roach said there will be ample public hearings and meetings about the Greenway before any plan is adopted.

“For 75 years, this was passive land,” he said. “It’s a habitat, and now, for the 10 or 15 people who might wander along a path, the city is disrupting the lives of the people who live here. We want to sit down with the mayor and see how we can work this out together, instead of having it shoved down our throats.”